The Sun. — London, England, 1864-09-08 00:00:00

The Spithf ad Forts, There is probably at, the present time no other portion of the nations' k defences which has so large a hold on the public mind as the proposed marine forts at Spithead. This is due to several causes, foremost among Ns h ich may be noticed the' conflict. ing evidence rela dve to their necessity given before the National De .ence Commission by officers of the highest rank in both services, and other competent witnesses; the subsequent discussions in the press and Parliament ; the temporary suspension of the works and their subsequent resumption, and, per. haps more than all the foregoing reasons put to. gether the absorbing interest imparted to the sub ject by the naval operations before Charleston and Mobile. The Defence Commissioners originally proposed that Spithead should be protected by a combined system of forts and floating batteries, and they recommended the construction of five ad vanced forts on the shoals—on the Horse Sand ; Noman, or No Man's Land Shoal ; on the Stur bridge Shoal, off Ryde, on the Spit Point ; and on a point intervening between the Horse Sand and the south-east end of Portsea Island. Sir Charles Fox with a staff had been employed by the War office department in boring the different shoals, and a report of the result was drawn up by Sir Charles for the guidance and instruction of the 'War-office on the subject. Mr Hawkshaw, C.Ee prepared the plans for the foundations, and three of those plans—the Horse Sand, the Noman, and the Stubridge —wer e ordered to be proceeded with, the one on the Spit and the one intervening be tween the Horse Sand and the Portsea Island having been thrown out of the scheme. The con tract for the construction of these foundations was signed by Mr Leather, a gentleman who has gained high reputation by his work at Portland, in June, 1861; but owing to the temporary sus., in deference to th e ex pension of the works, pressed feelings of a large party in the House of * Commons, it is only on the Horse Sand -that any p-eat progress has been made, and in the meantime thee Sturbridge Shoal has been abandoned, owing to the enormous expense which must have been in curred in constructing the foundation for the Fort there from the nature of the shoal. On the 11th of June, 1864, a special committee was appointed by the t3ecretary of State for War "to consider the alterations requisite in the plan for the defence of Spithead in consequence of the abandonment of the work on the Sturbridge." This committee was com posed of Rear-Admiral A. Mike, chairman; Capt. R. S. Hewlett, RN. ; Colonels J. W. Gordon, R.E., C. V. Cockburn, R.A., and H. D. Harness, R.E. ; Capt. J. D. Bythesea, R.N. ; Mr. James Fergusson, with Lieut.-Colonel W. F. D. Jervois, R.E., Deputy Director of Fortifications, as secretary. This coins mittee, after visiting Spithead and its approaches, recommended that a fort should be constructed on the Spit Bank, about 600 yards to the south-west of the point on which it was proposed by the De. once Commissioners to erect a fort. They also re commended that, as an enemy might pass by the outer forts and keep so far to the southward as to be, out of the effective range of the works on the northern side of the anchorage, a small fort should also be constructed on the Ryde Sand, about 1,200 yards to the southward of the Sturbridge Shoal. In a ccordance with these recommendations of the com- mit tee the War-office authorities are now employed at the two points indicated in baling the shoals to ascertain their nature. The borings have already been carried to a considerable depth, but with no promising results. On the Ryde Sand nothing has 3 - et been met with bat a thick layer of sand deposited rend, and the situation is ass unpromising there as was the Sturbridge Shoal. The position selected, 60G yards south-west of the Spit point, is equally unpoomising. It is evidently off the shoal proper, as De thing has yet been met with in the borings but send and earthy deposit left on the edge of the shoal by the action of the tides. The efforts: of the commission appear to have been restricted to finding a substitute for the Sturbridge site, north of the Noman and Horse sites, other wise it is incomprehensible that the Warner peal. tion should have been left without mention in the committee's report. If the chart published in the report of the National Defence Commission is re• ferred to it will be seen that the works now in pro gress oa the Horse and Noman shoals form two points of an equilateral triangle, the apex of which is the Warner Rock, a trifle inshore of the Warner lightship. The similitude in the two positions of Spithead and Charleston in their outer defences is very striking, but it is all in favour of our own port. Forts Moultrie and Sumter are 1,900 yards apart. Tless forts on the Horse and Noman Sands will be 2,06'0 yards apart, but they will be 1,000 yards fur. ther distant from Portsmouth than Sumter and Moultrie are from Charleston. The probable failure of finding any suitable strata on the Spit or Ryde Sand on which to erect the two forts recommended by the commission may also induce the authorities to again take into consideration the propriety of erecting a fort on the Warner Rock, and thus trebly locking the front-door entrance into Spithead from the sea. The three forts would then form an equi lateral triangle, both sides of 2,000 yards, and, if kept armed with the heaviest description of ord nance as our knowledge in gunnery progressed, it would be absolutely impossible for any ironclad that could ever be constructed to pass through that tri angle of fire and float. This plan has met with much favour. It was first brought into notice by Ca ptain H. W. Tyler, R.E., then stationed in the Isle s. of Wight, in charge of the fortifications in that district in the early part of 1863 ; and as time pro gresses and our k now ledge of the relative value of fartsm ri and armou re d s hi ps lik ew i s e advances, the real is Of Captain Tyler's plan becomes more and mo re appar ent. To return, ho now i n han w e v e r, more directly to the works is necessard, the so e liorse and Noman foundations, it progres s had first been ob serve t h at , a f ter a certa i n the erecti on ot at made in the collection of plant, and other prehmi n • af g a in g Over the foundation sites, s appeared for some j measures, the Government time to erect th e forte e to falter in their determine• a reaction The contractor he contractor never fals tared. He felt th at the forts were t o a certain must come; he knew eetent as certain to be constructed as day Succeeda t( I)dniht, and he knew a lso, as Lord Palm erston to the House of Com a e mo ns, that to give up the seh wou ld entail nearly as great me at that point plotion. Under these circuit taaces I temise as its com s s teadily went on collecting as, plan ; Leather shore, and th e resu lt m ay now b ' e and materi a l Spithead Forts' works on . Stoke s Bsy shore, at the oppos it e Ryde, Isle of Wight, where the e?l,:asearly partitions for the construction of the f orts , t pre founda- tions are made, and where also a desert Strip of shingle and stunted gorse has been transformed iuto a busy hive of human industry. The position has been well selected. It adjoins the Stokes al ay is within half an hour's steami ng railway terminus, of the Horse and Noman, and its beach offer s safe means of embarking and disembarking in all Weathers. On the ground is a cement mill, cement stores, blacksmiths' shops, Sec., with lines of rail ins, it in all dirctions, a in of rail way travers tion with the e Stokes Bay railway forming a Julie company's line , and overhead railways wo rked b y steam cranes of gre at power for transporting the blocks of stone. About 15,000 tons of concrete rougrouted squared blocks ar e a t present laying on the e and bevilled o ff i n readiness to drop into their places in the foundation courses of the forts, and about 7,oooltons of Peubryn granite, Portland and Run corn stones for the same pur p o se. These block s range, according to their position, from three to seven tons each. Portland and Penbryn stones are conveyed to Stokes Bay, or Leather -town, as it may in all propriety be called, by see, but the Runcorn stones are delivered direct by rail from liirkenheed. In one pact of the works a portion of the ground is cemented over and laid out as a " rawing Board,' on which every stone is laid in its own position as it will finally Occupy when placed under water, and is there numbered and marked out with its ft'llows in coloured lines, and by these numbers and coloured lines the diver ti es the stone when low ered to him from above. In the centre of the station on the branch lino is built a stout pier, having a doable line of railway connected with the railways on the grounds, and on this pier railway a power ful steam crane affords the necessary means of re- ceiving the roughlyftsquared blocks of stone and granite from Portland and Penbryn, and discharg ing all the finished blocks into the lighren, which convey them, towed by steamtngs, to ttn works on ;Le Horse and Noman. The concrete blocks are made from the shingle and sand of Sttkes Bay and ,he beat Portland cement. The total value of Mr, Leather's plant, in connection with the Spithead Fort Works, is estimated at over £40,000. The site of one of the forts once definitely fixed upon, the War Department first enter on posses• sion, drive some dozen piles in a central position, cover those with planking, erect a temporary light house, and begin to sink their cylinders, just after the plan pursued in the construction of the Char. ing•cross railway bridge. By means of these cylinders an exact knowledge of the strata of the earth below is obtained, and they also afford the means of obtaining water at a moderate depth from the surface if they reach a water•bearing strata. On the Horse Sand the cylinder (in sections of Eft, dia. Meter) has been sunk to a depth of 90ft, but no water found, and it is now intended to make water tight by artificial means the bottom of the lowest cylinder section, and then by boring it is calculated water will be obtained on reaching the London clay, about 500 ft from the surface. The same course will be followed at the Noman. The London clay crops ont, about 15ft below the surface, in the new No. 11 dock foundations bed now in course of construction in Portsmouth dockyard. At the Horse and Noman forts water is expected to be found in the stratum of sand which intersects the London and plaster clay beds. The foundation ground on the Noman and Horse banks is everything that could have been wished for the purpose. Of the Horse Shoal the sur■ face consists of 4ft 6in of fine gravel and sand, which rest upon 2ft of natural concrete. Next comes a stratum of 18ft of sand, containing shingle and pieces of tree bark and branches. Eight feet of clayey sand succeeds to the sand and shingle, and contains remains of various marine substances. Next comes a 5-feet stratum of sand shingle, followed by 15ft of a blue silty clay ; a stratum of sand, shells, and shingle ; a thin stratum of stone ; and, lastly, a conglomerate of flints, sand, and shingle. All this is evidently a modern deposit. The cylinder on the Horse Shoal has been sunk in the usual manner by internal excavation. The cylinder on the Noman Shoal has been sunk by a pneumatic process worked up at last to an air pressure of 371 b to the inch until in fact the vulcanised pipes could withstand the pressure no longer, but gave way with a report like a cannon shot. This was beyond endurance by the human frame, and several men were incapacitated for a time for further bodily exertion. It is a curious fact that Sir Charles Fox, in his report to the War-office, should have been entirely deceived in his conclu- sions as to the under stratum of the Noman Shoal. This he described as being composed of the Isle of Wight limestone rock, which crops up on the shore at the adjacent point of sea view, Nettlestone, as it is marked on the charts. Contrary to this theory of Sir Charles it is composed of sand and shingle intermixed with ,large pieces of limestone, evidently washed down from the island strata, and in coming across these detached pieces of limestone Sir Charles, no doubt, fell into the error of his theory. In these cylinder excavations on the Noman the lower jaw of a graminivorous animal was found 55ft below the surface of the shoal. This was forwarded to Pro fessor Owen, who gave it as his opinion that it was the jawbone of an ox or extinct species of deer. How long had this jawbone been thus buried ? We now come to the time when, the War Depart ment having erected its central staging, sunk its cylinder, and examined the lower strata, the con tractor for the foundation of the forts comes upon the scene and commences his operations for laying the foundations of the forts comes upon the scene and commences his operations for laying the foun dations of the forts. This he does by taking the War Office staging as his base of operations, and throwing out thence radial arms of timber, embrac ing the area required for the foundation, which are supported on screw piles, and the superstructure is formed of circular timber roadways, on which is laid a line of railway, on which work powerful tra velling steam cranes, which lift the blocks of stone from the lighters and drop them into their position, in the water, where the divers below receive and fix them according to their numbers and coloured lines. This circular staging is divided into 25 sec. Lions, and this arrangement, together with the numbers and coloured lines on the stones, prevents any possibility of a mistake in the final fixing of the stones by the divers under water. Fifty men are now employed on the Horse fort foundations, 12 of whom are divers, The foundations of this fort are expected to be completed by the end of the pre. sent year. The Noman and Horse foundations are precisely similar in their structure, but differ ing in their height, the Noman requiring from its greater depth of water nearly double the depth of stonework from the shoal to that necessary on: the Horse Shoal. Both founda tions are formed of rings of stonework, laid on the levelled bed of the shoals, of 53ft. Gin. of base, and 42ft. Gin, at the upper course. The outer diameter of the ring is 231tt. at low water mark, and 213 ft. at the upper course. There is thus a considerable area in the centre of this ring of stonework, which can be filled up around the cylinder subsequently by the Royal Engineering Department, into whose charge ! the foundations fall after their completion by the contractor, according to their own ideas. Five courses of stonework form this ring at the Horse, and each succeeding course lessening its dias meter from the base by 4ft Gin. gives the difference in external diameter between the base and upper course. The inner and outer diameters of the lower courses are laid with the soft red Runcorn stone. The same diameters of the upper tiers are laid with Penhryn granite to bear the weight of the fort to be constructed above. The heart of the work is filled in with concrete blocks. The Noman foundations are precisely similar in their five upper courses, but they will have an additional four courses below of Portland roach stone, having% vertical facing from the shoal. The Noman Shoal is covered with 20ft. of water at high water spring tides, and the Horse Shoal with 15ft. Roustd the base of each founda tion on the shoals will be deposited sufficient rubble to protect the stonework from any damage by the tidal rush of the waters, or the break of the waves in rough weather. In executing a work in an exposed position in tidal waters, the first danger (and sometimes it is a continuous danger from first to last) the contrac tor has:to meet with is the action of the breaking waves upon his piling in rough weather. This has been provided for in the Spithead works by Mr, Leather in the construction of a sys tem of piling that shall present the least re sistance to the sea, and at the same time that possesses abundant strength to support its superstructure. The best known illustra tions_ of the t wo s y s tems of piling for sub mar i ne works exist at Dover and Holyhead. At the former Places he pilin and staging is a mere reed-like structure that at first sight appears far too frail to maintain. i ts position in even a moderate breeze, against th e „sees baits w!sh of the sea ; yet it in reality pos amount of soft ions arrangement an enormous the attack s of the strongest strength, enabling it to defy the contrary, the S s tr t ongest gale. At Holyhead, on there for the couipietai.t'ing that has been erected time afternti°E the pierheadlhas been swept away bulk and consequent resinsliet' "lug to its too great to the sea. In the great gale which, destroyed the ott iteyal Charter the piles and staging swept fro Holyhead ,alongside the Great pier wolks, drifted the end of the fouling Eastern, then anchored ia tLe ai:djeobpyardy for her paddles and screw, placed her some considerable time. With regard to the Spithead forts themselves nothing definite appears as yet to : lave b een arrive. a t. In the fiat place it w , ls intended to cereltrect the forts entirely of iron. It was next proposed to con struct them o f granite faced with iron, i n t h e same manner as the Cronstadt forts are now being Com pleted. It is said, however, that the authorities, frightened at the cost of iron forts, and not knowing where to turn for a good intermediate substance be tween the iron face and granite backing, intend to construct the forts simpl y of granite, and leave their coating outside for further consideration. If these forts are to fi4ht iron ship, and that is what most people believe must one day be their duty, they must be constructed either of iron or clothed with iron. If the latter course is adopted, there can be no difficulty about the matter, for any thickness of armour-plating can be fixed on the exterior of the granite face by the aid of double T ended angle fram ing, and the interstices could be filled with sand to prevent any damage to the granite by the blow of an enemy's shot. This sand backing would also lessen the vibration of the armour plate on being struck, and would afford space for the removal of any damaged armour plate, and the fixing of a sound one in its place without disturbing the granite frame of the fort. On the Noman the contractor's circular staging has just been commenced. It will be fully two years before the foundations of the fort there can be completed. There is one fort now just taken in hand by Mr Leather, at no great distance from the Horse and Noman, which, although it is included in the " Isle of Wight Defences," is really a marine fort, and must be looked upon as one in the group of the Spit. head defences. This will be erected on the sandy spit which runs out towards St. Helen's Roads, on the south side of the entrance to the shallow har bour of Brading, the very spot where this fort will stand being the silted-up sand and shingle which covered up by tidal and wind action the works com menced by Sir Walter Raleigh for the protection and extension of Brading Harbour. The fort will be of an oval form, of 120 ft. in length, and about 190 ft. in breadth, and built of granite. A ring of caissons will be sunk in the sand, after the manner of those used in the formation of the Thames Em bankment, and within this ring will be formed the foundation for the fort. The caissons will afterwards be filled in with concrete and become a permanent outer protective circle for the work. THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 8, 1864, The Mysterious Deaths at Mile-end. Yesterday afterncon Mr Humphreys, the coroner for the eastern division of Middlesex, and a jury chosen from among the principal inhabitants of the district, resumed and con eluded the inquest which was opened on Monday week at the Crown and Leek Tavern, Mile-end New-town, on the bodies of the women Frances Beckenham and Mary Ann Gribbin, who were found dead on the night on Friday week under extraordinary circumstances. It will be recollected that the deceased were sisters, and between 30 and 40 years of age ; that Frances resided with her husband, a man of weak intellect and a retired Poste office letter sorter, at 21, Albert-cottages, Mile-end New town, and that the other sister Gribbin was the widow of a musician who at one time led the band at Astley's Amphi theatre. She lived in the same neighbourhood, and was in the habit of visiting the Beckenhams. The evidence went to show that both women were addicted to drinking, and that the man Beckenham, who is an imbecile creature, was completely under their control. He had a pension of 14s a week from the Post-office, and his wife and he, who were without family, occupied the upper floor of the cottage, which consisted of three small rooms. They had resided there about eight years, and had paid their rent punctually They were nevertheless under notice to quit at the time of this affair, from some alleged scandal which the habits of the sisters had brought upon the neighbourhood, Not having been seen by their acquaintances for some days, apprehensions began to be felt that something was amiss with them, and about 10 o'clock on the night of Friday week Mr Nicholson, the overseer of the parish, and a brother-in-law of the Beckenlat.ms, with some of the neigh bours, entered their house, and found both sisters dead in the sitting rowel, and the man Beckenham almost naked, crouching under a bed in an adjoining room. The body of the woman Beckenham lay on its back on the floor of the room, with the head, on which there were certain marks of violence, on the threshold of the bedroom, and that of the sister was in a kneeling posture, with the head and arms resting on a sofa. Both were dressed, that of the woman Gribbin having a bonnet on. The room was in disorder. and there were indications in it of a recent drinking bout. The husband on being questioned could throw no light on the matter. All he could ea) was that he had been without food for three days. A post-mortem examination, made by Dr, Gayton, afforded no clue to the cause of death in either case, and there being a lurking suspicion that the woman had died from the effects of poison, the contents of the sto mach, with parts of the liver and intestines, were sub mitted to Dr, Letheby for analysation. The principal wit ness on the first day of the inquest was an old woman named Lydia Goozee, an intimate acquaintance of the Beckenhams, and who was in the habit of visiting them. Her evidence was to the effect that on the Tuesday morn ing before the Friday on which the women were found dead the husband Beckenham called upon her and asked her to go and see them, and that she went and found he had got there before her. The woman Beckenham, who appeared to have been drinking, was going about the house, and Gribbin was in bed. The latter complained of pains in the stomach, and Ity on a sofa the rest of the day un dressed, except with a blanket, and retching violently at times. Twice in the course of the day Goozee, at their re quest, wont out and brought them first porter and then gin, but only in triflng quantities. She saw no food in the house. She remained with them until about 9 o'clock in the evening. The woman Gribbin appeared then a little better, and the other sister asked her to call and see them in the morning, remarking that she would have " a fine night of it." Mrs Goozee called next morning, but no one answered the door, and she never saw the sisters again alive. About the time she left on the Tuesday night the man Beckenham went to a neighbouring publichouse and took home half a gallon of beer, Yesterday the woman Goozee was recalled, and said, in reply to the coroner, that she did not see anything poured into a vessel from which one of the sisters was drinking by the other sister on the Tuesday evening. She denied having said so to any person since she was last examined. Elizabeth Wagstaff, wife of a butcher, living at 27, Al bert-cottages, Mile-end New-town, deposed that Lydia Goozee. in a conversation she had with her since the first day's inquest, told her that Mrs Beckenham offered a white powder to her husband, who refused to take it, upon which she took some of it herself, and gave the rest to her sister, and that both were sick afterwards. Goozee said that took place on the Wednesday evening, and that the powder was put into some beer. Mary Ann Hoare, living at 22, Arundel-street, in that neighbourhood, said the deceased woman Gribbin had lodged with her about a month, occupying a back room, and was much given to drinking. Dr Letheby, professor of chemistry at the London Hos pital, deposed that he had examined the contents of the stomachs of the deceased women. The mucous coat of that of the woman Beckenham was very much softened, and the stomach was stained by a purple colour. It contained a teaspoonful and a half of thickish fluid, of a deep red colour, which was carefully analyzed for poison, but nothing was found beyond a small quantity of potash and sulpho cyanogen. Portions of the intestines and liver were also ex amined, but no poison was found. The stomach of the woman Gribbin contained an ounce and a half of red liquid. The mucous coat was much softened, of a red colour, with a purple stain at one end. There was no trace of food in the stomach. The liquid in it had no peculiar odour, but on being tested for poison it was found to contain about 40 grains of carbonate of potash and a little sulpho.cyanogen. The intestines and liver did not furnish any evidence of poison. The result of the analysis was that potash was pre sent in both of the stomachs to a large extent. It existed as carbonate of potash, and might have been taken either in the form of caustic potash, or carbonate of potash, or cyanide of potash. His opinion was, from the presence of sulpho cyanogen, that cyanide of potassium was the drug taken. It was a deadly poison, its active principle being prussic acid, and the 40 grains found in the stomach of the woman Gribbin would represent about three grains and a tenth of the cyanide of potassium, the commercial cyanide, as com pared with that sold by druggists, being an impure prepara tion, containing only about 20 per cent of cyanide. That quantity would be quite sufficient to cause death. The not finding prussic acid was accounted for by the decomposition of the body, which has a tendency to destroy prussic acid. All the appearances were those of poisoning by cyanide of potassium, and he believed that to have been the cause of death in both cases, It was used generally by photographers. The witness Elizabeth Wagstaff was recalled, and in reply to the coroner said she saw Mrs Gribbin return home drunk on the Wednesday afternoon and sit down on the step of the door. She threatened to burst the door in if it was not opened, upon which the man Beckenham opened the door and tried to pull her in, falling over her as he did so. As she sat on the step eho complained that she had lost her money and a new dress. Witness saw Mrs Goozeu go to the huuse ou the Wednesday morning and try to get in, but could not. Ann Filcher, a neighbour of the Beckenhama, spoke to seeing the husband Beckenham pass her door on the Wed nesday evening between G and 7, and return presently afterwards, on his way home, with a large can of beer. She also corroborated the witness Wagstaff as to the woman Gribbin sitting en the doorstep drunk on the afternoon of Wednesday. She was positive as to the day, because she had been washing on that day. Another of the neighbours, named Elizabeth Davis, gave confirmatory evidence on that point, adding that she never saw any of the three after the woman Gribbin was taken into the hr,use drunk. The Coroner then summed up the evidence. The result of the post utortem examination, he said, by Dr. Gayton, proved that both the deceased women had been confirmed drunkards, and that was the character,they bozo. In the stomachs of both Dr. Letheby had found a drug which he believed to have been taken in the form of cyanide of potas sir, a deadly po i son, It was used very extensively by raNlivia le s r ui 6' r a o n e d as u il n y f°tu obtainablet t tel th a a d n ea a c n il y y , Pnatuture,°g other poison. It was a white oweler, but pow~or, was reduced to a liquid before being used for purposes of photography. It was remarkable, if the deceased died front poison, that the witness Gooz- - • ;se should hllUn had seen some powder put in their beer when she was with them on the Tuesday, and yet had kept back that circum stance when she was previously called to give evidence. It would seem that, being present when the powder was put in the beer, but feeling now the responsibility of her position, she shrank from adhering to the account she gave the neigh bour. It might be that she only stood by while that was being done, and probably she and the Beckenhams and Gribbin were is the same condition of intemperance at the time. The evidence, however, of the neighbours as to see ing the woman Gribbin and the husband Beckenham on the Wednesday afternoon put Mrs Goozee in a better light, for whatever the two women might have taken on the Tuesday in her presence could not have caused their deaths. Looking at the medical evidence, to the effect that there was no organ sufficiently diseased to account for death, and that the deaths had all the appearance of being due to cyanide of potassium, it was for the jury to say whether it was the cause of death. If they were of that opinion it would be for them to say under what circumstances it was taken. The evidence on that point was very meagre. The husband was a person of weak intellect, and that of the witness Goozee was hardly reliable Probably, under all the circum stances, they would think it desirable to find an open ver dict in that respect. The jury returned a unanimous verdict that the deceased women, Frances Beckenham and Mary Ann Gribbin, died from the effects of poison, but under what circumstances it was administered there was no evidence to show. The Recent Disturbances at Geneva. We (Times) have received the following report of the Independent Committee, addressed to the Swiss people, upon the attempt of the 22d of August : Dear Confederates,—An outrage, committed in daylight, in the presence of a hundred witnesses, on the 22d August, has caused blood flow in our city. We fancied that such an outrage would call down upon it universal reprobation. Our indignation vas great, but we were convinced that the indignation of these whose flag had just been dishonoured would be greater than ours ; we felt convinced that our poli- tical adversaries would raise their voice louder than ours to condemn those who inflicted upon them the opprobrium of calling themselves their friends ; we felt convinced that the magistrates of our republic, powerless to protect, would at least be the fist to take in hand the cause of the victims, and would endeavour, by publicly condemning and repri manding the trime, to make us forget they were not able to prevent it. Our expectations ;have been deceived. The Council o State of the Bcpublie and Canton of Geneva has addressed a report to the Federal Commissioners upon the events of the 22d of August, in which the order of facts is misstated, the facts themselves falsified, so that it is simply a plea in favour of the assassins. It is for you, dear confederates, to decide whether the men who have sworn to maintain intact the honour of our republic have kept their oath. We do not wish to kxow what sentiment they obeyed when they constituted th3mselves the advocates of the assassins; but they impose upon us a sacred duty the task which they feared to fulfil and it is in the name of the Canton of Geneva that we come, dear confederates, to make an appeal to your justice. The facts a►e as follows : On Sunday Aug. 21, an election took place for a member of the Counei: of State, to supply a vacancy occasioned in that body by M. Challet-Venel, who had been called upon to perform the duty ot Federal Councillor. There were two candidates—il James Fazy and M, Arthur Cheneviere. The presiding officer of the election was M. Amberny, who belongs to the party of M. Fazy. Before the opening of the poll the electicn committee of the Independents had requested M, Amberny 5 authority to place in the hands ot the officers for the distribution of the voting papers a list or lists drawn up by the committee, of the names of those voters whom they had ascertained to be dead, although appearing on the official register, or notoriously absent from the country, and therefore incapable of voting. Some few unimportant squabbles took place during the two last hours of the election. Both parties seemed equally confident of obtaining the majority. The following morn ing the casting up of the votes began at 8 o'clock, and as it proceeded the chances of success varied. At about 11 o'clock M. Fazy seemed likely to carry it, and his friends were already lout in their triumphs ; but after that time the number of votes became more and more favourable to M. Cheneviere, who, at the close of the proceedings, was found to have beaten M. Fazy by 337 votes, which result was re ceived with great uproar in the hall on the part of M. Fazy's partisans. Then M. John Perrier, who was one of the members of the Central Committee, insisted upon the election being annulled. He grounded his demand upon the fact that the list of electors abroad or dead was made use of to check the returns of one of the officers for the distribution of the voting papers. It was in vain that M. John Perrier was told that the President of the Election Committee had authorised the employment of the lists ; it was in vain the President him self asked that the name of aay one citizen should be given who had been prevented from voting in consequence of those lists against which M. Perrier had raised his voice; it was in vain he declared that in his opinion the election was legal from the beginning to the end, and was perfectly valid ; it woe in vain that he appealed to the feelings of equity of his own political friends, who formed the majority of the com mittee. M. John Perrier was unable to quote a single in- stance tending to invalidate the election ; but he persisted, nevertheless, in his demand. The partisans of M. Fazy ranged themselves on his side, though not without hesita tion on the part of many of them ; and the committee, ex. ceeding their powers, and thus violating, the Constitution, refused to record the decision of the electoral body. It was learnt with stupefaction that the committee did not choose to render valid an election which was against M. Fazy. The announcement of this arbitrary decision of the 17 par. tisane of M. Fazy, who formed the majarity of the commit tee, was not long in spreading through the town. The in dignation was general, and the Independents repaired to the Molard to protest against this unconstitutional decision. Certain speakers gave expression to the feelings of the public. All of them exhorted the people to bewaro of de viating from the path of legality, but at tho same time to claim before the authorities redress for the outrage which had been inflicted upon them. At half-past one o'clock the assembly left the Molard, and went in procession to the Hotel de Ville to lay before the Council of State their de mands—namely, that the result of the election should, in accordance with custom, be proclaimed. The request of the assembly was presented by a few citizens chosen for that purpose, and who bad to wait a long time before being ad mitted to the presence of the Council of State, who at first did not consider they were numerous enough, and who atter. wards were deliberating with M. Amberny, the President of the Election Committee. When the delegates were admitted, they expressed to the Council of State, with firmness and with great moderation, the wishes of the assembly whose spokesmen they were. Their moderation was not difficult, for the magistrates whom they addressed seemed to lament as much as they themselves lamented the decision of the committee. The members of the Council of State concurred in considering the decision as arbitrary, as having been dictated by un justifiable party spirit, and as having excited a feeling of animosity which they could not be expected to share, but which they admitted was natural and legitimate. They expressed themselves as quite disposed to afford every satis faction in their power to citizens whose complaints appeared to them well founded ; but, added they, " What can we do ? It is no duty of the functions of the Executive to render the election valid." The delegates admitted that the law did not vest the Council of State with the confirmation of elec tions, and what they only asked for was that the result of the election should be proclaimed, and further that it should be announced that the General Election Committee would be immediately called together to reconsider the fatal decision they had come to. This re -assembly of the com mittee had already been resolved upon by the Council of State, as the end of their conference with M. Amberny, in whioh conference the President of the Election Committee had warmly expressed his opinion on the conduct of the members of the committee. Furthermore, the members of the Council of State promised to use their utmost influence personally with their friends in the committee, in order to induce them to revoke the decision they had come to. On leaving the Council of State, the delegates found the crowd waiting impatiently for an answer to their de mands. "While they were conferring together, M. Amberny had, with great warmth and fooling, expressed to the assembled citizens the grief and deep stupefaction he had experienced in finding the committee deaf to his solicitations, and refusing to confirm an election which he considered as perfectly valid. The crowd were not satisfied with the decision at which the Council of State, in unison with the delegates, had come to ; their desire was that the election should be forthwith declared valid. They imagined that the Council of State, or, at least, some of its members, were aware beforehand of the decision of the com mittee, and they thought that what the Council of State had permitted to be done it might very properly undo. The delegates, in conjunction with a large body of citizens, took pains to explain to the crowd that the Council of State, in refusing to prenounce the election valid, were acting ac cording to law, and that it was not right, in order to correct one illegal :let, to commit another ; that on no account shonld there be any departure from the path which had hitherto restrained public indignation within legal bounds, They repeatedly asserted that the members of the Council of State promisede a iV ora mitte e,which wtosh would b upporttheeirimvmieewdsiatbeelfy called et le h d e E together ; that besides this, in the event of the committee failing them, recourse might be hal to the Grand Council and to the Federal authorities. They added that the Coun cillors of State had, without exnpption, shown their sympa thy for ft-llow-citizena who had been the victims of a great injustice. Finally, the crowd accepted, and even received with some cheers, the following resolution : —" The Coun cil of Stale resolver to publish the annexed extract of the proces-verbal of the election for a member of the Council of State, which toeir place on Aug. 21." " 11,161 voting papers were given out, and 11,051 returned. The committee de clared valid 11,025. M. A. Cheueviero obtained 5,677 votes. lu eenseo i uence of a protest against the decision of the com mittee, i is President, M. Amberny, has again called it to gether to reconsider the matter. "S. AUCOMMUN, Chancellor. ° the Hotel de Tb 34 resolution was read aloud before) to publish it, ascording to custom, in the different quarters of the town, preceded by thr©e drummers, and accompa nied by two ushers in their official uniform, and followed by a crowd of citizens who fell into procession, leaving the courts and neighbourhood of the Hotel de Ville completely deserted. It was then half-past 3 o'clock. The procession crossed the streets of the Hotel de Ville, the Rue Ver daine, &c., reached the Pont des Berguis, and on arriving at the other end of the bridge turned to the left and entered the Place Chevelu. During the whole of their course they were frequently saluted with cries of " Cheneviere for ever," to which they answered by similar cries. Nowhere where they met by any hostile demonstration, There was nothing, therefore, to prepare this peaceable procession for the strange spectacle which awaited its ar rival on the Place Chevelu. On the right, and rushing from the bottom of the Rue Cendrier, a dozen men, armed with muskets, and commanded by a public functionary, made their appearance and posted themselves at the entrance of the street. The head of the procession was not more than five paces from the armed men when ono of them lowered his musket and fired upon the mass which had crowded into the narrow street. This shot wounded two persons, and immediately induced the citizens who had been so brutally attacked to move rapidly forward. They endeavoured to get held of the muskets carried by the band who were running away, and thus reached the Place Chantepoulet, but on entering that " Place," they perceived on their left, drawn up in a line, about 80 individuals armed with mus kets, and two cannon were placed so as .to command the whole of the street. At this sight, while one portion of the citizens were reforming themselves in procession behind the Commissary of Police and the drummers, the greater num ber remained scattered over the " Place," viewing with astonishment an armed body of this description, whose criminal intentions they could not believe in. Their illu sion was of no long duration. Among those persons of whom the procession was com posed, some were of opinion that they should march on, and not allow themselves to be stopped i❑ the peacable exercise of their rights as citizens, by the formidable obstacle which barred their path; others, on the contrary, considered that what had taken place in the Rue du Cendrier, showed to what extremities these armed men were determined to go they said to advance would be madness, that, being unarmed, it would be rushing not to a combat, but to a butchery ; " it is true we have no arms" replied one of them, "but it is that which constitutes our strength." The opinion of the most prudent finally prevailed. It was decided that the procession should remain where they were, and that the Commissary of Police alone, with his escort of drummers and ushers should proceed to meet the armed band, and summon'it to disperse. This was accordingly done. The Commissary of Police had proceeded half way between the head of the procession and the top of the street when one of the armed men signed him to stand aside. At the same moment three or four musket shots were fired in the air, and these were immediately followed by the discharge of musketry, which, directed from about 150 paces upon the crowd, scattered in the street and on the "Place," struck down several citizens, three of whom were mortally wounded. The armed band then marched down the street directing their fire on the crowd that was running away, not even sparing those who were lilting up the victims of one of the most infamous gvet-a-pcns of modern times. It was nearly four o'clock. The first shots fired in the Rue du Cendrier had already determined the retreat of the greater part of the procession, which, after hiving re-crossed the bridge, proceeded rapidly towards the Hotel de Ville. On their way there the noise of the discharge of musketry in the Rug Chantepoulet reached their ears, and immediately the cry " To Arms 1" arose from this unarmed crowd, in momentary expectation of being pursued by the assassins who had plundered the arsenals of the Saconnex. The last remains of the proces sion came up some minutes later, with an account of the murders which had just been committed, It became urgent to provide for the public sufety, and the gendarmes on guard at the arsenal of the Hotel de Ville, having refused to open the gates, ladders were raised against the windows by the citizens, who by this means penetrated into the arsenal, and divided among themselves the muskets that were found there. A few barricades were soon raised in order to defend the approaches of the Hotel de Ville, but the citizens who were thus arming to defend themselves against any fresh attack, less well provided than their as sasins, had not at their disposal the ammunition of the State; they were without powder or ball. They had, how ever, muskets and bayonets, the alarm bell was rung, the generale was beat, and they calmly waited to be attacked. The attack did not, however, take place. The assassins, exult ing at their victory, contented themselves with barricading the bridges, with placing cannon there, and firing musket shots from time to time on the passers by. At a quarter before 6 the battalion of recruits encamped I near the town (which the citizens who were in possession of the Hotel de Ville had suggested to the Council of State to call in) made their appearance. The same citizens had already declared their readiness to destroy the ,barricades which they had erected, and to lay down their arms, upon condition that those who occupied the portion of the town on the right bank of the Rhone would on their side lay down their arms, and also destroy their barricades. One of the members of the Council of State, which subse quent to the firing had been prevented from leaving the Hotel de Ville, had proceeded to the bands who occupied the bridges, and had proposed this simultaneously disarma ment, to which they had acceded. The recruits accordingly occupied, without meeting with any resistance, the post of the Hotel de Ville, and the citizens were thus relieved, by the presence of a regular force, from the fear of any fresh attack, and although not numerous or with much expe rience, resolved and prepared to do their duty, they went home, counting upon the arm of the law to chastise the crime, and only asking from the magistrates, whose friends have just assassinated theirs, the application of those laws without which no society could exist even for an hour, As regards the assassins who promised to lay down their arms, during the whole of the night they paraded the stnets, firing their muskets, forming patrols, and mounting guard upon the theatre of their exploits. Wo might add numerous details to this statement. We could mention the names of some of the men who joined company with the assassins whom they had provided with weapons; we could tell you what voice, still more criminal and more cowardly, urged on miserable fanatics to dishonour the banner of their party. But justice has commenced its work, and we shall not inflict upon ourselves the sad task of anticipating its revelations. For the Independent Committee, The President, CH. DAUMAS. The Secretary, TH, RILLIET. Genova, Aug. 27. STATE OF TRADE. CARDIFF, Sept. 6.—The steam coal trade is cha• racterised by a large amount of activity, and there is a fair prospect of fully an average trade being done this month. The reports from the Spanish, French, and other continental markets are en coure.ging, and there is no doubt entertained that the demand will continue brisk during the coming months. The current quotations are obtained without difficulty, where anything like a reason.. able delivery is guaranteed. Should the supply of vessels be adequate the collieries are likely to be fully employed at least for some time. House coal remains without any material change. The iron trade retains its increased vitality, and buyers are sending in their specifications with readiness. Rails are quoted £7 to £7 10s, free on board, and and bars £7 to £7 53. Coke is in moderate re quest, and the patent fuel works are in fall employ. DUNDEE, 6th.—Privately the demand for flax was very limited to-day, and prices are ratheriweak. A considerable quantity was put up tto auction to day, and about half of what was offered found buyers, but at low prices, the remainder being with drawn for more money. Vine tow is held pretty firmly, but common qualities can be bought cheap. Fully 3,000 bales of jute were put up to public sale here to-day, and more than two-thirds of the quan. tity was sold, but the :prices realised were consi derably below the nominal market rates. There is almost nothing doing by private sale, as spinners look for still lower prices. The demand for yarns was entirely consumptive to-day, and the business done was at rather easier rates than before. Goods suitable for the American market were in more re quest to-day than for weeks past, and considerable transactions are reported. Other fabrics are in moderate demand, and manufacturers are still kept well supplied with orders, but they are now willing to book them at rather lower prices than when things were brisker, • • LEICESTER, 7th.—There is continued activity in the hosiery trade ; all branches except the glove re main in a healthy and satisfactory condition. There is plenty of employment in the country districts. Yarns are firm, and high rates are realised, spin ners being well engaged. There is not much alte ration in the wool market, which continues quiet, but material is commanding high prices. NOTTINGHAM, 7th,—The lace trade genf.rally is quiet, but not more so than is usual at this time of the year. A little is doing for t;:e autumnal demand for the German markets and for France. Mechlin quillings keep in request. In plain stiff nets there is still very little doing. There is a tolerable amount of business doing in black silk laces and narrow edgings, while there is very little or no im provement iu the demand for silk meclains and silk quillings. Stocks of all kinds of goods continue light. In lining thf.qr.3 is not much change; the market generally is rather quiet. Yarnitare SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS TTMES.—It is an unfortunate characteristic of General Grant's operations that the more closely they are viewed the less satisfactory they appear. The second report of one of his battles is invariably worse than the first, making his losses greater and his achievements smaller than they were originally supposed to be. What was his design at Deep Bottom seems to have been unknown even in New York, but we are now assured, after the usual fashion, that at that place and on the Weldon Railway he lost in a single week 12,000 men. The results, meanwhile, are so absolutely unimportant that General Lee treats the Federal army with perfect unconcern, and not only despatches large reinforcements to Atlanta, but marches away him self, if we may believe the report, at the head of a formidable corps. The Confederate commander is now said to be in the Shenandoah Valley, and it is reasonable, therefore, to look for important intellie genre from that quarter. The Southern army already in these parts, under the command of General Early, comprises some 30,000 of the best troops in the service of the Confederacy, and if these are reinforced by other divisions under General Lee himself, and opposed only by Sheri dan and his levies, it seems natural to anticipate some decisive operations. Nothing, indeed, can be more extraordinary than the position to which affairs have been brought by the course of the cam paign. General Grant has reached Richmond, has i skirted t by a flank movement, has left it behindl him, and is now engaged in some unintelligibl e ope rations a few miles south of a small town, itself some miles south of the Confederate capital. Gen. Lee, after first protecting Richmond with his army, now apparently considers it able to protect itself, and has marched away to the North, with the view either of threatening Washington or of carrying the war into the Federal States. In fact, at the two great centres of action—Richmond and Atlanta— there is simply a dead-lock, while the interest of the campaign is once more transferred to the early battlefields of the war. As for the siege of Mobile Admiral Farragut has discovered that the place cannot be approached. The harbour has been closed by an ironclad sunk in mid-channel, and Mobile is pronounced inaccessible to the Federal squadron. In the meantime the p olitical campaign is far more eventful and invested with far more immediate in terest. There the issue cannot be delayed, nor the contest indefinitely prolo n g ed. A few days, .indeed, will now bring us a most im p ortant, if not decisive, piece of intelligence. On the 29th of August a Democratic candidate for t he Presidency was nomi nated at Chicago, and that nomination will, in all probability, govern the election, and with it the course of the war. It may be observed, too, that as we have war news at this moment up to the 27th ult. we may regard it as certain that neither Grant nor Sherman nor Farragut could have achieved anything likely to influence the proceedings of the Convention in favour of the War party. The sups port which Mr. Lincoln and his partisans might possibly have derived from the ur capte of Atlanta or Mobile is now past hop in g for, and the resolu. tions of the great political meeting will nave been taken on the assumption t hat the campaign of 1864 will end as unprofitably.for the North as those of the years preceding. That last chance for the Republicans has been lost , and the misgivings of the party may be clearly discerned in the proposi tion now reported, that Mr Lincoln and General Fremont should retire together, and make way for some new candidate for the Presidency more popu larly acceptable than either. E ver ything now tends ie the direction of peace, or, at any rate, towards the suspension of war ; and the Americana appear to be embracing this new policy of negotiation with the same impulse which first hurried tnem into civil conflict. It must not be supposed that the Northern people have yet accepted the idea of Southern inde pendence, or relinquished the hope of restoring the Union. All they have learnt at present is that the Union is not be restored by war. The Seceding States are not to be coerced into fraternity, and all the fabulous expenditure of the last four years has been utterly lost. .That much seems to be at length unders tood, but still a large section of the party now rapidly acquiring ascendancy both hopes for a reconstruction of the Union by process of negotiation, and encourages it self with the reflection that war can be once more tried if these hopes should fail. The " War Demo crate" are ready and eager to accept an armistice at present, but only with the expectation of accom plishing by parley what they have found themselves unable to accomplish by force. If they nominate General MiClellan as their candidate for the Pre sidency, they will simply be employing him once more on his original mission, only they will place him at the head of a new force and arm him with new weapons. Instead of being Commander-in- Chief he will be the chief of the State, and he will negotiate with political opponents instead of meet ing hostile armies in the field. A Parliamentary road to Richmond is the essence of the new policy. A broad view of this kind is all that can be taken of these remarkable events. The more secret views of parties are of course hidden from us. We can only tell at this moment that the party or aggre gate of parties desirous of suspending the war and substituting amicable negotiation is strong enough to compel others, with more or lees sincerity, to accept its policy. It seems by no means improbable that the policy of a n armistice will be adopted even by Mr. Lincoln himself, so that in any event the Presidential election would bring the close of hosti• lities for the present. Then follows a mighty question—Will the war ever be renewed ? It the South should refuse on any terms to re-enter the Onion, will the Northern people, who now admit that war has brought them no good, recur to that arbitrament in hopes of better fortune ? P . erhaps a majority of them would profess that intention at the present moment; but to us , on this side of the Atlantic, it seems very difficult toimagine that two Governments which have had such bitter experience of war should ever delibe rately renew it after a taste of peace. For the first time, however, during the whole of this contest we are brought within sight of its probable end, and it is curious to reflect with what suddenness the prospect has at last arisen. Beyond doubt the con victions which it expresses must hav e long been gaining strength in the minds of the Northern people, but still they found little utterance till the other day. That they are now proclaimed so loudly is due to the double opportunity presented b . y the Presidential election and the acknowledged failure of the last campaign. The hopeless dm:le:Hoek of the armies in the field happens to coincide with the period when the people are form all y called upon either to inaugurate a new policy or deliberately approve the old one. They must put one decision or other upon record, and a series of military failures, consum mated by the dreadful losses of the present year, render it almost imp ossible to pronounce for war. Had Grant's desperate enterprise been successf u l, or had Mr Lincoln's lease another year to run, the present crisis would probably not have been reached, but the coincidence . of opportunity an d i m pulse has now brought it to pass, and we can only hope that it may indeed prove the end of the struggle. POST.—With reference to the remarkable speech of the Duo de Persigny, which is still attracting a good deal of attention, as well in this country as in France, it has been contended that the success of the . Empire is much more owing to the personal qualities and the individual policy of the Emperor than to anything distinctive in the system. Now, what the Due de Persigny said was, that Napoleon 111. had submitted to the French people a c onstitu. tion conformable to the organisation, of society in France, and it is replied, in effect, that the worth of this constitution mainly depends upon its admi nistration. But clearly the same may be affirmed of every system, and of every system in existence in England, from that which is the foundation of our Government to that which regulates the delivery of our letters. The right of the Sovereign to negative Acts of Parliament is, for example, part and parcel of our constitution, though the prerogative h©s not. been exercised for over one hundred and sixty years In fact it is impossible to devise any syste aviand especially a system for the government of a. in., which does not more or less depend upon. its admbi nistration. It would, indeed, be the surdity to expect perfection in any system, and the h e ight of a_ - Due de Persigny has not, as far . as we are aware, ever assumed that the constitution oi the S . e . cond Empire represents more than huan perfectibility, All he urged at St. Etienne was that the Govern. meat established by the Emperor haste . red to the requirements of France, the gist of his contention being that a system of government for the French people should, so to speak, be judged of by its fruits, by whether moteiep nded with their interests and served to pro their prosperity, and not by com paring it with any other form o f G overnmen t, or with regard t.) theories of freedom whi c h, though wo rking well in one country, might not be adapted to the organisation of anothe r c o untry. Substan tially and practically, therefore, the objection we have mentioned admits the for ce and accuracy of the argument it attempts, not to refute, but to turn aside. The . Duc de Persigny described the situation of France fairly and candidly to Frenchmen, He did not say that the constitution of the Empire was suitable to all the world ; he did not hold it up to Europe as a model; he did not even maintain that it was not susceptible of amendment hereafter. But he pat it to his countrymen that, as a matter of fact, the system initiated by the Emperor, was, under subsisting circumstances, one which ap proved itself to the nation. This, being entirely evident and indisputable, has escaped contradiction, and it seems to b..; admitted on all hands that the Empire has succeeded. Bat then the sneers is; ascribed to the Emperor personally ; or, in other it is said that France acquiesces in a form of word, government which is not in harmony with her feel* ings because it is wisely administered. It is compli menting the engineer at the expense of his machi nery. However, events that must still be fresh in the public recollection do not bear out the supposie tion ; and, looking under the surface of the revolu tions out of which the Empire arose, we are inclined to think that it rests on a more solid foundation than the popularity and prestige which attach to the name of its illusOious chief. There can be no doubt that Napoleon 111. did for France more than any other man would have been permitted to do; but the grand secret of his success—that, at least, which has given te it all the appearance of per manency—consisted in the thorough appreciation of the wants and wishes of the nation which he exhibited and acted upon. The Government of the Restoration, as it was in no sense the choice of the French people, can hardly claim to be considered in the discussion the Duc de Persigny's speech has raised. But the Government of July, and the Re public which was roughly constructed upon its ruins, both professed to proceed from the will of the people, and did to some extent represent the opinion of the country as far as they collected it. They were made by Paris, and France accepted the bills which its chief city drew upon it. But the Empire was at once placed upon a broader basis. Napo leon consulted the whole nation, and throughout his reign he has, before all else, steadfastly main* tained the principle that was consecrated in his election. There is nol a peasant in the remotest corner of the land that does not feel he . has a stake in the Government, and this feeling i s strongest precisely where it is likely to be most enduring. The Emperor has not treated France as if he only had a life interest in its estate, but has so identified himself with the people that the personal influence he oxercies is bound up in their mind* with the system under which they have enjoyed. prosperity, seen their power newly developed, and expierenced the manifold advantages of a firm and, strong Government. Of all men the Due de Pere aigny would probably be the last to appear even to deny to the Emperor, whom he has served well and. faithfully in adv ers ity as in prosperity, the high distinction of being personally honoured and red spected by , the French people ; but in interpreting the constitution of the Empire he could not help perceiving that it should and did repose upon something that would outlive the wisdom and pru dence of its present administrator. The question was, as he understood it, whether France had at length obtained rest, whether the country possessed. a system of government which could be preserved with advantage ; and, reviewing the past and re garding the present, be came to a conclusion in which there is every reason to believe a vast majority of his countrymen participate. They do look upon the Emperor as the founder of a system which has given them liberty, which has relieved them from apprehensions of anarchy, and which has revealed to them the real sources of their strength and hape piness. The sentiment may be right or it may be wrong in theory, but its value is practically demon. strated. France is not forgetting herself in dreams of imperial magnificence, nor were the French ever less disposed to neglect their own interests than they now are. On the contrary they appear to take an exceedingly businesselike measure of their position, and, as is the way with people who are doing well, turn a deaf ear to the suggestions of change. They see on every side signs of progress, political and social, and if they think, as it is plain they do, that the road to which they have been cone ducted, and on which they are steadily advancing, leads to what nations should desire to attain—to welfare at home and honour abroad—we cannot suppose that a people so animated, and so acting up to their sense of duty can go far wrong. I I COUNTRY MARKETS. LYNN-TUESDAY. At to-day's market the supply of wheat was very good. Old and new wero in active request, and fully realised pre vious prices. Several samples of good heavy new barley were shown. Beans and oats fully as dear. White wheat 46s to 48s / Barley . . 36s to 3TI Red.. Beans .38s to 39s I Oats Small Averages Wheats, 42s 2d—barley, 31s 10d—beaus: 40s Od. HULL—TUESDAY. At our market to-day there was again a short supply of both old and new English wheat, which sold at about the quotations of last week. Foreign wheat firm. Oato and beans in more request. MARKET HARBOROUGH—TUESDAY. At our corn market to-day the supply of wheat wall moderate, and sold at no advance on former rates. Bar. ley in limited demand. Oats and beans were unchanged. —White wheat, 438 to 488; red, 39s to 43s per 36 Stone* Malting barley at 30s to 328 per qr. ; grinding, 27s to 29 0 per 30 st. Oats, old, 26s to 30s; new, 20a to 21s per 3 0 st. ; beans, 348 to 428 per qr. MELTON MOWBRAY-TUESDAY. The following were the currencies :—New white wheat, 42s Od to 46s Od ; new rod, 38s Od to 44s per 36 stone; beans, 38s to 42s for old ; new sorts, 35s to 37s per 38 st. ; barley, —s to —s for malting, and 27s to 29s per qr. lot grinding ; new oats, 20s to 25s Od per 24 stone ; old, 2 46 to 295, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE—TUESDAY. This morning at our market wheat and other grain wall in moderate supply, and prices ruled at about the same IA last Saturday, with a dull trade. DUBLIN—TuEsnAy. To-day the attendance was only moderate, and there vra s little business doing. s. cl. e. d. B. d. e• d• Wheat, white,. 24 oto 26 6 Oatmeal lO otol3 0 0 Do., red .. 21 6t0 24 0 I Beans.. ..... -- 0 to -- 0 Do., new .... oto 0 Bere . — oto -- Barley - , I: ! Oats Do., black — oto 0 Indian corn .. 27 oto 26 0 Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton . .Sept. 1 8 • Via Marseilles Sept. 1 .2 * Brasil and Cape Verde, by British pac!tet. Sept. 4 Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Sept. 2„S.' China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Sept. I°' via Marseilles Sept. 14.4. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton .. Sept. 1 0 ' India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.. Sept. 1S• via Marseilles.... Sept, I' 2 ' India (Bombay), via Southampton .. Sept. 10. via Marseilles Sept. 4. Portugal.... Sept. 4. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Sept. 1 . via Marseilles S e pt. 4 , Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Sept. S. by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. Sept. 9. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Sept . 13. California. and British Columbia. DEATH OF THE OLDEST INHABITANT.—La st week Mrs Eliza Hill died at the Wotton Almhouse, Mon' tester, at the ago of 104 years. Her husband, a labourer , died some years ago at the age of 100 years. Wi th the exception of sight, she retained her faculties well up to lle i r d ea th, Twelve months ago she could sew or read, an about a week before her death she remarked to a friend, il l talking of her dean relations, that she had been a long tiino in the world, but she hoped to have a better place when the time came. [ADVERTISEMENTI—HOIIO say's Pills can be coral: d ent ly recommended as a domestic remedy for the ailment' of all classes and conditions of people. Young and old, men and women, parents and children may take this meal' t i n e with the certainty of denying benefit from its ion when disorder or disease is making them miserable. J lOl loway's Pills are unrivalled for their purifying aperien t, an d strengthening properties. They remove indigestioF , palpitation, and headaches, and are specially serviceable in complaints peculiar to females. Each box of Pills al l wrapped up in printed instructions for the guidance of in valids who will readily understand from carefully studying them the best way of regaining health. Holloway's Pill. work a thorough change in the constitutions of the Wen' and nervous. Births. FERMOL—On the sth inst., at Trabolgan, Lady Ferniolf of a son. GORDON.—On the 4th inst., at Woolwich, the wife of Car Win 11. W. Gordon, C. 8., of a scn. HERRING.— On the Gth inst., at Tulse-hill, Mrs. EdWar cl F. Herring, of a son. Marriages. JACKSON--ROSE.—On the 6th inst., at St. Cross Chutel3, Suffolk, William Oliver Jackson, Esq., of Ahanesk, 00 , Cork, to Millicent Anno, daughter of the late Lietit'i General Sir John Itose, K C. 8,, of llolrue, county Inverness. Woon—ELDRIDGE.—On the 7th inst., at Trinity Mirel l ' London, Captain C. W. A. IL Wood, oldest son of C°.': Charles Wood, of Carlton Lodge, Yorkshire, to Ik Louisa, youngest daughter of It. D. Eldridge, Esq., la' of Huddersfield. Deaths. CunTirs.—On the 2d inst„ at Dover, Mr. Samuel Curtis, Of 28, Milten-strect, city, aged 73. G ILLESPIE. —At Gravesend, John Gillespie, Esq., Captil iil unattached, aged 68. KNATCHBULL.—On. the Gth inst., at Hastings, Williao.: Knatchbull, youngest son of the late night Hon. 61' Edward and the Dowager Lady Elnatchbull, aged 27. Tunon.—On the sth inst., at Dorchester, the wife of Tudor, lisq,, of a sou. WIIEELER i —On the 4th inst., :tt High Wycombe, Mrs. I . ' Wheeler, of a sou, 1. —______ - - - -- --- - - -- ,5 London : Prlnt..7.d and Ploonslied by WILLIAM ANDU.E W; of No. 11!!, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office No. 11 i St ra nd, in. the Precinct of the lavoy, ,n the Coun ty ° Alltittlesex. - _ - Thursday, September 6,1864.